Sitting Ducks
by headindacloudzz
Summary: all the endowed at bloors lose their endowments and other students end up getting them. what happens next? and of coarse, like in all of my stories, there's EMMAxTANCRED. please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

She was perfection. She was beauty. She was everything he ever dreamed of. She could also do what most teenagers in the world wanted to do: Fly. She could fly away from all of her troubles at any moment and leave them all behind forever, but she stayed. Tancred could never understand why. If he could do that, he'd surely leave for a while, to clear his head. But Emma would never think of that. She was genuine.

Emma Tolly was drawing on a piece of notebook paper during the morning break. She didn't have a clue that Tancred Torsson was watching her and envying her ability. She was unaware of everything. All of the endowed were unaware of what sat for them around the corner.

Tancred approached her and next to her. Since she was so rapped up in her doodle of a tollroc, she didn't notice his presence next to her. She had a horrible headache for some reason and couldn't concentrate on her drawing. There were many meaningless lines and goof ups in the drawing, and she'd only started moments before. She didn't feel like herself. Art was her thing, especially drawing birds, but now she couldn't draw something simple that she'd been able to draw for years.

He wanted to talk to her. He could tell there was something wrong with her. She had been acting strange all day, hardly talking and messing up most of her pictures. This wasn't like her at all. This wasn't the girl he loved. "Emma," He tapped her shoulder.

Emma jumped almost a mile. Her paper and pencil went flying across the field and stuck to Joshua Tilpin. Her eyes (A/N: does anyone know what color they are?) went wide with shock as she looked at Tancred. "Don't scare me like that!"

"I didn't mean to," Tancred stood from the log the two had been sitting on and backed away a couple steps. "Is something wrong, Em?"

Emma shook her head, though he could see in her eyes that she was lying. "Everything's fine." She told her feet. She wouldn't look at him.

"Emma, I know you better than that. There's something wrong." Tancred grabbed her shoulders and made her look at him. She immediately blushed, but her didn't notice. "Just tell me what's wrong."

After staring into his stormy eyes (A/N: blue, right?) for a moment, she opened her mouth to speak, but something caught her eye. She looked over at Joshua across the field. A second later, all of the items clinging to him fell off. The boy screamed once he noticed.

Tancred turned to look at Joshua. "What's going on?"

Emma didn't know what to say, but she did have a vague idea of what was happening. "Tancred, make it rain." She ordered. "Make it rain right now."

"Why?" He wondered, confused.

"Just do it." She already knew it was no use to try and change into a bird. It was probably too late for all of the endowed at Bloor's Academy.

Tancred tried, but couldn't even conjure up the slightest raindrop of whip of wind. "Emma, what's happening?"

At that moment, the back doors pounded open and Dr. Bloor and Manfred emerged from the school, both looking furious. "All children of the Red King up to the Kings room this instant!" He ordered. "This includes Olivia Vertigo."

Emma was slightly in shock. Did they already know about Olivia? They'd tried hard not to get her discovered.

Olivia with her neon orange hair joined Emma and Tancred as they approached the school. All of their friends and their enemies were heading the same way and soon all of the endowed children of Bloor's Academy were sitting in the Kings room.

Dr. Bloor and Manfred entered angrily and pulled Olivia out of her seat. "How stupid are you. You should have told us about your endowment from the beginning!" Manfred shouted at a frightened Olivia.

Charlie jumped up. "Manfred, we were trying to keep her a secret so we could use her if worst came to worst. You can't yell at her. Yell at me. It was my idea."

"Okay then I will!" He shoved Olivia back into her seat. "Charlie Bone, you are the stupidest person to ever walk through the gates of Bloor's Academy!"

"Why?" Charlie asked, confused.

"If we'd known about Olivia, then we wouldn't be in danger right now!" He screamed. "Somebody got angry at our family today because they knew about Olivia and thought we were hiding her from them."

"Who?" Tancred asked.

"The head of all endowed in the world. He knows the exact number of all endowed on the face of the planet. We had a meeting with him today and he doesn't like getting told incorrectly. He has the ability to take away endowments. Because you hid Olivia from us, Bone, the head of endowed took away all of the endowments in our school." Dr. Bloor explained.

"You mean none of us has an endowment?" Dorcas gasped.

"Yes and no. None of us in this room has endowments, but the head of endowed has another endowment: he can place your endowments with someone else." Dr. Bloor said.

"I'm afraid of who got Torsson's ability." Manfred muttered.

"Can we get them back?" Joshua wondered.

"Yes," Dr. Bloor nodded, "He said he would give them back once we proved we earned them. Right now your guys' job is to figure out who got what endowment and report them to me. At the end of every day I will report who got what ability. You will still do homework in the Kings room, but will be joined by those children and it will be your job to make sure that the person who gets your ability doesn't misuse it or does anything harmful, understand?"

Everyone nodded and followed the Bloor's out of the room, except for Emma. She was mortified. Tancred stopped at the door when he noticed she wasn't moving. "Emma, come on," she still didn't move. Tancred sat down next to her and looked at her face. She looked close to tears. "Emma, we'll get them back eventually."

"But my endowment is all I have. Without it, I can't do anything. Did you not notice all of my drawings today? They all look horrible." A tear fell down her face.

"Hey, don't cry." He wiped the tear away, "You can probably still draw. You're just paranoid about losing your endowment."

"I don't know." Emma stood up. "If anyone asks, tell them that I'm not feeling well." She left the room.

Tancred knew at that moment, Emma wanted to do what she had never needed to do before: fly away. But now she couldn't.

* * *

**sorry about all of the she's and he's, if they got annoying to you. Also, I only started this story because my other stories aren't getting reviews and i need something to do. so please review this one. i'll even lower it to at least 3 per chapter. how does that sound? okay whatever. **

**and yes, i changed my user name. i changed it from alliey1213 to headindacloudzz. get used to it. i like it better.**

**now press the magic button and you'll get a special prize eventually. :)  
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	2. Chapter 2

How where they supposed to know who got whose endowment? Some would be difficult to discover, like Dorcas's, Billy's, Charlie's and a few others. Emma thought it would be difficult to find who had hers.

But it was actually pretty easy.

It was the day after they'd learned their endowments were, at the moment, not theirs. Emma was sitting in her art class next to a boy named Damien Heights. Her and Damien were acquaintances, but weren't friends. Just art buddies. They'd had to partner up on a few assignments over the years.

Damien was extraordinary at art. That was what he had come to Bloor's for, all the way from the United States. He had ever intension of becoming the next Picasso or De Vinci. He was almost Gabriel like with long limbs and longer brown hair. But his eyes were a dark brown, almost mysterious like, and he was a very confident boy. He was unlike anyone Emma knew.

The two were working on a project together at that moment. But it wasn't like they were working together, because Damien was doing all of the work. Once he noticed, he stopped and turned to Emma. "What's up, Emma?" He wondered.

"Nothing." She said flatly, avoiding his gaze.

"You're lying." He noted. "Really, Emma, what's wrong? You're usually dictating me on these projects."

"I don't have my endowment anymore." She sighed. It pained her to admit it.

"You could turn into different types of birds, right?" Damien asked.

Emma nodded. "It was always so wonderful to be a bird. I felt like I was in another world every time I changed. It was one of the greatest feeling in the world."

"I'd love to be a bird." Damien closed his eyes and daydreamed for a moment. "I'd want to be a hawk. No one would be able to hurt me."

A second later, Damien was transforming. Feathers were appearing where his fingers were supposed to be and he was shrinking. Emma couldn't believe what she was seeing. Now she was looking at a hawk, or to be more specific, Damien.

Damien Heights had been given Emma's endowment.

…………………

Tancred was angrier than he'd ever been before about losing his endowment, but it wasn't easy to tell. The strong winds weren't flying around him and rain wasn't pounding on the floor and heads of students. He couldn't do anything. He felt like an alien to his own being without his endowment.

He was sitting in his sculpting class with Lysander next to him and one of Emma's friends, Jamie (A/N: I'm not sure you guys are going to like Jamie in this story, fyi), on his other side. Tancred didn't know why Emma hung around Jamie. To Tancred, she was sort of annoying. In the sculpting class, she was always sitting by him and trying to talk while he was busy concentrating on his work.

She was doing the same thing today, going on about a toad she'd seen in the garden.

Tancred had to admit that Jamie was pretty, but she looked oddly like Emma, with same blond hair and eyes (A/N: again, does anyone know the color?). And she was likeable, but she just wasn't Tancred's type (A/N: he's thinking this but is oblivious that Jamie likes him, is what I'm trying to put across).

While Jamie was talking, a first year accidentally ran into her while she was taking off pieces of the block of stone and beheaded what she had all ready had done to her sculpture of her little sister. She was shocked at first. She sat there for a moment, quietly. Then all of a sudden she jumped up and turned towards the first year, who was frozen in his spot, staring at the ruined sculpture. A strong wind lashed around the room as she began yelling at him over the ruined art.

As Tancred's worst horror unfolded before his eyes, a rain began pelting everybody and lightning and thunder appeared every few seconds. And this definitely wasn't Tancred's doing. He looked over at Jamie, who was now huddled under a nearby table looking scared. She had no clue what was going on.

Tancred hadn't remembered going through this when he'd found his endowment. It was probable because his father was always there whenever he needed help or freaked out.

Now Tancred needed to be there for Jamie.

………………….

By the end of the day, almost half of the endowed children had discovered who had been given their endowments. It was announced at dinner. Besides Emma and Tancred, Lysander, Manfred, Inez Branko, Ideth Branko, and Dorcas Loom had discovered who'd been given their endowment.

Lysander's endowment had been given to a boy a year older than him named Thomas Gray. Thomas was fifteen with light brown hair and green eyes. He was a loud and obnoxious person and tended to get on peoples bad sides. Even though it was against the rules, he was always listening to his punk-rock music on his I-pod. He was placed in music and played the guitar.

Manfred's endowment had been given to a girl who attended Bloor's all the way from America, Demitria Garibaldi. Demitria was thirteen with blond hair that contained different colored streaks depending on the day and her eyes were a very beautiful gray-blue color. She was a friend of Olivia's and also an outstanding actress. She loved attention more than anybody and was very outgoing. She was in drama, of course.

Inez and Ideth's endowment had been given to a girl named Jane Paterson and a boy named Joel Markis. Jane was sixteen and had long, black hair and hazel eyes. She was a perfectionist who always had an opinion and sadly was known to hate the endowed. She was in art for painting. Joel was a first year and had only started out the school a week before at age eleven. He had honey blond hair, dark blue eyes, and was very quiet. He wasn't sure about anything at all and was known to be afraid and allergic to just about everything. He was in art for drawing.

Dorcas Loom's endowment had been given to a girl named Leann Kortz. Leann was fourteen with brown hair and brown eyes whose personality changed with the day, but she was usually just bored and snobby. She descended from a family of seamstresses and was in art for the same thing. Her family had gone to Bloor's for many years and now it was Leann's turn. She hated the school more than anybody.

These children joined the formerly endowed in the King's room that night. They told their stories on how their endowments had been discovered. Thomas had freaked out because he was hearing thing's in his head that he'd never heard before, Demitria had accidentally hypnotized an annoying stage boy, Jane had sent her social studies textbook flying, Joel had thrown Bragger Braine into the mud (A/N: just had to put this in. :D), and Leann had accidentally bewitched a skirt and her teacher had tried it on; the effect was that the teacher had temporarily turned purple (A/N: I just had to put something random like that in here).

Now the King's room had an odd atmosphere. No one could tell what exactly was wrong. It probably had something to do with the fact that the new endowed hadn't picked sides. No one could officially tell who was good and who was evil.

But only time would tell.

* * *

**okay, so how'd you like it? please review. i got 4 reviews off this chapter, but i'll think i'll be nice and keep the reviews at the minimum of 3. and fyi, i probably won't update until saturday's, because i'm hardly on the computer over the week because i volunteer at my church's day camp during the week. **

**umm.. so just review. and thanks to all that did!!  
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	3. Chapter 3

Charlie Bone was struggling to play his trumpet that day. Almost before he even put the horn to his lips he was dismissed from class. Apparently teachers had their bad days too.

Without really knowing what to do, Charlie slipped into Fidelio's strings class. The teacher didn't say anything to Charlie about sitting in. She didn't really mind. She was just glad she got to show off her wonderful students.

Fidelio was sitting next to a girl probably not much younger than himself. Charlie believed her name was Sandra Darvith and that she was about twelve. She had straight black hair and crystal-blue eyes. Sandra was very quiet and hardworking and Charlie remembered her as being a big fan of Olivia. She'd always wanted to follow in Olivia's footsteps, but was too shy to pursue acting.

The teacher suddenly turned to Charlie. "If you want to sit in, at least rate how this next piece sounds, Charlie. You'll need a pencil and a piece of paper to write down your thoughts."

"But I don't have either." Charlie showed his empty hands, slightly embarrassed.

A few people shuffled to pull out their own materials to offer Charlie, then stopped as a notebook and a pencil appeared in his hands. As he closed his hand to grip the pencil, it disappeared for a moment, then returned.

It took Charlie a moment to realize that it was an illusion. That meant someone in this room had Olivia's endowment.

As if she had announced it to everybody, most eyes turned towards Sandra, who wore a look of fear.

Sandra Darvith had been given Olivia's endowment.

………………………

Olivia Vertigo and one of her friends, Lidia Darvith, were sitting on the stage of the drama department's auditorium looking at pictures to blow up for the background of their next production.

Lidia and Olivia had bonded over Lidia's little sister, Sandra, who was constantly following Olivia around. Lidia worked backstage, and was in charge of decisions like the set. She was fifteen-years-old and had attended Bloor's for countless years. Her hair was curly and black and her eyes were the same crystal-blue as her sisters. Everyone knew that she didn't want to be at Bloor's, though. The hardworking, has-to-know-it-all girl dreamed of seeing the world.

At that moment she was staring at a picture of Paris. She had told Olivia that that was where she wanted to go the most out of all. Olivia couldn't blame her. The city was very beautiful.

Suddenly, she got a far away look in her eyes, as if something were no longer there. Olivia panicked for a moment before shaking the older girl's shoulders. She didn't respond.

For a moment, Olivia looked from the picture in Lidia's hands to the unresponsive face, staring at the picture. She finally realized what had happened.

She patiently waited for Lidia to come to, but was in complete shock that Lidia Darvith had been given Charlie's endowment.

…………………………….

Everyone else had discovered who had been given their endowment (Gabriel Silk, Billy Raven, Dagbert Endless, Joshua, and Asa Pike).

Gabriel's endowment had been given to a girl named Ameena Bridges. She was sixteen with blond hair and gray eyes. She was a very carefree person and didn't really care what people thought about her. She was claustrophobic and allergic to rodent fur, so she'd always had to steer clear of Gabriel, because of his gerbils. She was in drama for acting.

Billy's endowment had been given to a young girl named Cate Lovella. She was eleven, not much older than Billy, with dark brown hair and celery green eyes. She was a very kind and gentle person and had a different outlook on life than most people. She was dyslexic and had suffered from cancer when she was very young. She was in music and switched from playing the piano, the violin, and the flute from time to time.

Dagbert's endowment had been given to yet another girl named Amyra Wine. She was thirteen, the same age as Dagbert, with wavy red hair and blue eyes. She was a non-judgmental person and oddly cheerful. She was deathly afraid of Dagbert and his endowment, though, because while she was young, she had almost been drowned by a strong ocean current and couldn't be sure if it were natural of made. She was in art for sculpting.

Joshua's endowment was given to a boy named Cameron Banks. He was fourteen with messy brown hair and hazel eyes. He was very laid back and lazy and was one of those kids that was always playing some kind of sport while they were on their breaks. The only reason he was at Bloor's was because he could play the drums magnificently and could also surprisingly read percussion music. But the bad thing was he basically fails all his classes and has almost been kicked out several time, and is tutored by Lysander.

Asa's endowment (A/N: I don't remember if Asa came back to Bloor's or not, so if he didn't, in my story he did) was given to a girl named Royal Markison. She was seventeen with orange-blond hair and brown eyes. She was a very beautiful person who put everyone before herself. Royal lived at Bloor's full time and had for almost five years ever since she was taken away from her parents because they had physically abused her. She was in drama for acting and dancing.

Ameena had discovered she had Gabriel's endowment when she had placed an old costume on herself and had gotten a bad shock of internal pain by whoever had worn it before. Cate had discovered she had Billy's endowment when she heard Blessed mumbling to himself. Amyra figured out her endowment by getting angry at someone in her class and accidentally sending a salty mist into the room (A/N: wasn't really sure how to do this one). Cameron discovered his when things began clinging to him, of coarse. Royal had discovered she had Asa's endowment the dusk before, when she'd changed into a wolf in front of everyone in her dorm room.

Now the king's room was packed with children. Manfred was getting frustrated, especially with Demitria, who believed she could do whatever she wanted and followed Manfred's every move because she believed she could learn how to control her power that way.

Tancred had noticed how some polar opposites had been put to together through powers. He'd thought it funny that his endowment had been given to someone that he at least knew and could get along with.

He glanced over at Emma, who was sitting across the table with Damien Heights next to her. They'd bonded since Emma discovered Damien had her endowment. The two were always together and it almost made Tancred want to blow him away with the strongest wind he could create, but he couldn't, which only made him angrier. He wished that Damien had just stayed in America.

Emma enjoyed having Damien around. They'd become pretty good friends since she had discovered he'd been given her endowment. He had asked her to help him learn how to use the endowment, and that's what he did. He already had a good grip over it.

She looked at Jamie, a friend she'd made a year or so before, and saw her staring at Tancred, who was sitting next to her. Emma felt a pang of jealousy in her. Before putting too much thought into it, Emma returned to her homework.

A very relieved Manfred released them almost an hour later. Everyone left joyously.

Tancred caught up with Emma while she tried to escape down the hall after saying her good-byes to Damien. "Emma, wait up!"

She didn't stop, but he caught up with her anyways. "Emma," He stood in front of her. "What's up with you now?" He wondered.

Emma was almost offended by the way he said this, but she looked past that and answered the question. "I want my endowment back, Tancred. I don't feel like myself."

"Neither do I. I almost feel calm. That's something I've never felt before. I've either just been happy or angry. It's a good feeling, but I'm not used to it. I don't think I ever will get used to it. But we just have to stick it out. We should get our endowments back eventually. Just look forward to that once your feeling down." He advised.

Emma blushed a little. "Okay, I will. Thank you."

He was about to open his mouth to say something else, but Jamie popped up beside Emma. "Tancred, you promised that you'd tell me what to do when the endowment gets out of control."

"Right," He turned to Jamie. "We'll take care of this tomorrow. Come find me during the first break." He seemed sort of sad about it, it seemed.

As Tancred walked away with his down towards his dorm, Emma stared after him, then turned to Jamie. "You don't disrupt a conversation like that."

"I didn't know you guys were having a conversation." Emma could tell she was lying. She had done it on purpose. Jamie knew Emma liked Tancred even though Emma had never told her.

Emma didn't know what to say, so she stalked off towards her own dorm, closely followed by Jamie. "I'm very sorry." She told Emma as they stood outside of their room.

"No, Jamie, I don't think you are." Emma turned quickly to face Jamie. "I think you're trying to make sure I'm not friends with Tancred. You've been acting weird whenever I hang around him lately, like you don't want us to be friends."

"I don't want you to be. I like him, Emma, and I don't want him to hang around any girls once we start dating. Getting his endowment was the perfect way to get close to him." She smiled smugly.

Emma was lost for words, and finally, through gritted teeth, she said, "If you don't want Tancred and I to be friends, then I don't think we should be. It was nice knowing you, Jamie." She entered the dorm and found Olivia and sat with her for a while in silence.

Losing her endowment made her feel as if everyone had power over her. She was usually a sensible person who knew what to do, but now she didn't have a clue.

* * *

**wow, this chapter is a lot longer than what i usually make. i think a lot of these chapters will be longer because other than TancredxEmma stuff, there'll be CharliexOlivia, and some other pairings and good and evil stuff. hey, are you guys interested in seeing an AsaxRoyal moment. That's kind of the reason I made Royal have his endowment, so Asa could find a girl. He deserves one. so are you guys interested?**

**And thank you to the five who reviewed this chapter. At this rate, I'm possibly going to change the minimum to 4, since it doesn't seem difficult for you guys, but i'm not sure.**

**Aaaaaannnnddddd, i got to go to the Toledo Zoo today and i got the coolest gel pen ever and got to see a cute baby monkey. it was awesome.**

**so please review. so do it. now. review. now. you know you want to.  
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	4. Chapter 4

God, Tancred couldn't stand Jamie one bit. She was loud and annoying and was always acting so…weird. She had to be the one to get his endowment out of all the other kids in the school. As he tried to teach her how to calm herself down in certain situations, which he had never done himself, so he had no clue why he was trying to teach them to Jamie, he looked across the field at Emma, who was walking around happily with Damien Heights by her side. The bad thing was, Damien was looking at Emma with almost an adoring look in his eyes.

A wave of extreme jealousy passed through Tancred. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. If he still had his endowment, a horrible storm would be settling over the school. He glared daggers at Damien.

"You know, she can't stand you," Jamie said, snapping Tancred out of his thoughts. He looked at her in confusion, "Emma thinks you're one of the most annoying people in the school. She absolutely can't stand being around you,"

Tancred was shocked. Why would Emma say that? That was totally unlike her. Her and Tancred had been pretty good friends over the past couple years, he thought, "You're lying through your teeth," He hissed at Jamie. What she said absolutely couldn't be true.

"If I am, let a bolt of lightning strike me dead," She looked up at the sky for a few minutes, then at Tancred, "See, totally telling the truth. She just doesn't want to break your little heart,"

"What are you talking about?" Tancred was getting angered.

"Emma's smart, Tancred. She's known about your little crush on her for a while now. She's always complaining to me about how she thinks you're such a dork. She's very mad you like her. She thinks that you're a loser." Jamie explained

"What?" Tancred didn't know what else to say. He knew his face showed despair. He looked over at Emma again and shook his head in disbelief.

"It's the truth. I dumped her as a friend the other day because she was saying so many rude things about you. I couldn't take it anymore. See, unlike Emma, I actually care for you, Tancred," Jamie smiled at him, but he didn't see her. The horn rang, signaling it was time to return to class.

Tancred fled the garden as soon as possible.

* * *

Emma grabbed her dinner and headed to her usual spot by Tancred and Lysander. Only when she arrived, she got no hello from Tancred, like usual, which broke her heart.

"Tancred, are you okay?" Emma wondered, picking at her food on her tray.

"I don't know. I'm just such a _loser_." He hissed, glaring at Emma. He didn't know why, but he actually believed Jamie.

"What are you talking about?" Emma was very confused and looked over at Lysander, to see if he would clarify anything, but he just shrugged and looked at Tancred curiously.

"You know what I'm talking about. Jamie told me everything. I love how you think I'm such a dork, but you won't even tell me to my face and go gossiping behind my back, then go and pretend to be my friend. That's really low Emma."

"I never said that. Jamie's just mad because I told her I didn't want to be friends with her anymore." She was in shock. How could Jamie sink that low?

"You've been acting weird for a while around me, Emma. I think she's right. Just go hang out with your new best friend Damien." He hissed.

Emma was frozen in her seat. "That's not true, Tancred."

"Then why have you been acting so weird?" Tancred demanded.

"Well, for one I lost my endowment--" Tancred cut her off.

"You were acting weird even before that. Why?"

"Because… Because…" Emma couldn't just go admitting her feelings for Tancred in this situation. It wouldn't be right. If Tancred was ignorant to believe Jamie, who she knew he didn't really like at all, over Emma, who had been fairly close to him over the past couple years, then Emma didn't even think she wanted to deal with him. She stood, took her tray and began walking towards Damien not far down. When she was almost to the open seat next to him, she ran into somebody.

Her dinner caked her uniform and she fell to the floor. She looked up to see Jamie, who was smiling ominously. "Oops, sorry. Should have looked where I was going." Jamie walked away without a backwards glance and took Emma's seat across from Tancred.

About half of the dining hall stood and looked at Emma, some even laughing. Emma felt tears welling up in her eyes. As she jumped up, she ran into someone else. It was Damien. "Emma," He started, but she quickly ran around him and out of the cafeteria. He followed close behind.

* * *

"My God, Tancred. How can you be so inconsiderate? You know Emma would never say something like that about you," Lysander hissed as Emma hurried away.

Tancred covered his face in his hands as he realized that his best friend was right. What had possessed him to do that, "I'm so stupid. I think I just ruined any chance I had with Emma,"

That was when there was the miss-hap with Emma and Jamie and Jamie came to sit where Emma had been.

"I don't even want to talk to you," Tancred told her as Emma ran out, followed by Damien. He went after them too, stopping before he turned the corner to where the former and current bird-people were standing.

* * *

"Emma, it's okay," Damien caught her as they turned a corner. "Jamie is a brat. Everyone's known this forever. You're the only one that has ever given her the time of day though,"

"I never should have. She thinks that she's the best because she has a huge crush on Tancred and that means that I can't be friends with him, according to her, and then she went and told Tancred all these nasty lies about me hating him or whatever and now she smothered me in my dinner." She told Damien in one breath, unaware Tancred was listening around the corner.

"Do you like Tancred?" Damien wondered. Why else would she be so worried about this? In his opinion, Tancred wasn't the best guy in the world. He was too moody.

Emma shrugged, "I'm not sure anymore. I don't even know if we're friends anymore. He made it sound like he couldn't stand me,"

Tancred was about to come out of hiding and tell Emma that that wasn't true, when he heard Damien's next words.

"Well forget him, then. He's not worth your time." Tancred froze and scowled when he heard this, "I like you, Emma."

Tancred knew Emma blushed as Damien said that, "I'm not sure if I like you that way, Damien." Emma admitted.

"Then give me a chance. Let me take you out to dinner this weekend." Damien offered.

"Okay," Tancred heard Emma's smile in her voice. He backed away towards the dining hall quietly. He couldn't believe he was losing Emma to Damien Heights. To make it worse, when he got back to his seat, Jamie was still there. But Tancred wasn't in the mood to tell her off. That could wait until some other time.

* * *

Asa hurried into the ruins, hearing the whimpers of a girl not far ahead. It was almost dusk.

He spotted Royal Markison, a beautiful girl who was in his year, huddled against an old, moss covered wall. "Royal!" He called.

She looked up, frightened, her brown eyes wide and body shaking. "Go away. I'm a freak,"

"No!" Asa leaned down by her. "I dealt with this ability for as long as I could remember. It doesn't make you a freak."

"That's the same thing everyone said about having abusive parents, that it doesn't change anything, or make you anything, but it does. And you know it, Asa,"

"I know," He started, grabbing one of her hands, "That I will be here for you any moment you need me, until this is all over, Royal. You don't deserve to suffer anymore and I'm not going to let you."

As dusk settled on the ruins, Royal began trembling and Asa knew she was about to change for the second time.

* * *

**super super super sorry i haven't updated this in forever. I sorta forgot about it and have been kind of busy with school and stories I'm actually working on for a career in writing and stuff. My fanfictions haven't been my top priority. this is an apology for all the stories my readers want updated.**

**So anyways, I like this chapter. Now Emma and Tancreds relationship is in a hole and they need to fix it, only Emma's falling for Damien now. What shall Tancred do?? Dun dun dun.....**

**review to find out!!  
i swear I'll update as quick as possible this time!  
I won't leave you hanging for 2 months (still very sorry for all of you that love this story)  
so review or jeffery the giraffe will come and find you.  
he's not a very patient giraffe, so give me those reviews and you won't have to worry about him  
he's very real, i can even show you a picture, see:  
:O===Q  
so review.  
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	5. Chapter 5

When Tancred saw Jamie talking to Cameron Banks, the boy who had gotten Joshua's endowment, he knew exactly what had happened the night before with Emma. Jamie was such a manipulative little….

It was Friday. He jumped on the bus, stealing the seat next to Lysander, right behind Emma. Damien was next to her. Their date was tomorrow. He felt his heart break as he thought about this. Emma still hated Tancred. He was a complete idiot.

They stopped at Emma's stop and she hurried off waving to Damien as she went. Tancred moved so he was sitting next to Damien.

"Where do you get off insulting me and telling Emma I'm not worth her time?" He glared at Damien, who seemed slightly startled.

"Did you not see what you did to her? Because of what you said, she ended up getting covered in that nasty stuff we ate for dinner last night. You insulted her a lot worse than I did." Damien pointed out. He didn't seem annoyed by Tancred, like Tancred would have if Damien and his had switched places. No, he wouldn't be annoyed. He would be full out pissed. No one could hurt Emma the way Tancred had; wait, or was it the way Jamie had?

"I didn't do anything, Damien. I would never say something like that to Emma. You're aware of Joshua Tilpin's endowment that now belongs to Cameron Banks, right?" He wondered.

Damien nodded. Him and Joshua didn't get along at all, because Joshua had once tried to force Damien into friendship with him, much like he'd done with Tancred when he'd first arrived at Bloor's.

"I think he forced the words out of me. When Jamie told me all that fake stuff, I swear I didn't believe her. Then at dinner, right when I saw her, for some reason I acted as if it were all true."

"I believe you. I've known you're a good guy Tancred. I guess I was just trying to win Emma over." They were quiet for a moment. "We need to get back at Jamie." Damien decided.

Tancred thought for a moment, then glanced a couple seats back at the rat, Jamie, who smiled at him dazedly. "I have an idea." He whispered with Damien for a minute, then hurried back to Jamie. This was perfect.

* * *

"They have too many people on their side." Manfred complained to his father. "Most of those temporary endowed are on their side, not ours. From what I can tell, all we have are Jamie, Cameron, Thomas, Leann, and," He shuddered, "Demitria. They have everyone else."

"Manfred!" His father snapped, realizing something. "Don't worry about sides. If anything, we need to make these kids golden."

"You mean have no one on our side?" Manfred gasped.

"Not exactly. We need to try and get all the endowed off of our side. There's no way our students are going to get their endowments back if they're all fighting."

"Whatever you say, " Manfred rolled his eyes and left the office.

* * *

There was a knock on Charlie's door. He froze while he was in the middle of eating a cookie Masie had given him. His grandmother came back with three girls. Two were the Darvith sisters, and the third was Olivia. Charlie suddenly felt embarrassed.

"Why are you guys here?" He quickly swallowed his bite of cookie and looked at the girls. He'd just gotten home about an hour before, so the buses had probably only just dropped them off as well

"Charlie, we have a problem." The girls sat around him, on the counters and in stray chairs.

"What kind of problem? You know I'm not that bright Olivia."

Sandra and Lidia giggled. "Them," Olivia said flatly. By the way she put it, Charlie was surprised the girls weren't offended. "Lidia doesn't know how to use your endowment and your supposed to help her, like Dr. Bloor said, she won't go anywhere without Sandra, and Sandra wouldn't come over here without me for some reason."

Of coarse, both were oblivious that the two girls knew Olivia liked Charlie and vice versa. They were purposely trying to get them together.

"Well we have to go home right now. We just came to purpose a little meeting." Lidia smiled.

"We should meet at that new restaurant in the Cathedral area. You know, that fancy one? We should meet for dinner tomorrow and talk about our endowments." Sandra smiled as well. They could have been twins if it weren't for the couple years that celebrated them.

"Okay," Charlie agreed. He knew what they were talking about. "I'll see you guys there."

"Okay," They girls got up to go, "Dress nice Charlie."

"Bye, Charlie." Olivia followed them out and to the Darvith's family car. Oh yay, this would be fun.

* * *

Damien had called her and had told her that instead of picking her up, she was to meet him at the restaurant. It was one of Emma's favorites. Damien had decided on it last night. She didn't know how he knew.

Now it was Saturday, and she had arrived at the restaurant, was sitting at the table. Damien was late. It wasn't like Damien to be late. He was always the first one in the classroom, the first one done with lunch, and so on. Fifteen minutes had passed from when they were supposed to meet. She was slightly annoyed.

She ordered her drink as she waited, and as it arrived someone sat down in the seat across from her. She looked up and in shock didn't find Damien, but Tancred Torsson. For a moment, she wasn't sure what to do.

She was about to stand and leave, when she heard his voice, and felt herself melt. How had Damien convinced her that it was a waste of time to like Tancred?

"Emma, just here me out, please. I can explain everything about the other night." He promised, leaning across the table to grab Emma's hand. "Just listen, Emma."

Emma nodded, not sure what to say.

"Jamie told me all that rude, untrue stuff about you at the break before that meal. I absolutely didn't believe her Emma, I can promise you that. But all of sudden I felt like I did, and yesterday I noticed Jamie talking to Cameron Banks, you know, the boy with Joshua's endowment? I put two and two together and I figured out Jamie got Cameron to pull those words and actions out of me. I swear I had absolutely nothing to do with it, Em."

A small smile crept onto her face as she heard this. But there was something she didn't understand. Where was Damien? She asked him.

"After you got off the bus I went and talked to him. This is all a part of a plan to get back at Jamie." He didn't think before he spoke. God, that sounded so rude.

Emma pulled her hand away from Tancred and stood up, ready to go, just as Jamie entered, looking around. She didn't spot Emma until Tancred jumped up after her.

"That's not what I meant, Em." He grabbed her arm and spun her around so that she was facing him, so close. "Damien decided it wouldn't be right to come on this date because…" He couldn't finish the sentence. He was so caught up in her beautiful eyes, and he couldn't find the right words for how he felt about Emma. There was no word. Love didn't even cover it at that moment. It was more. He could see she felt it too, but was unaware of what it was.

"Because what?" Emma wondered. He took a step towards her, letting go of her arm and putting both hands on either side of her neck, all without looking away from her eyes. He was leaning in now. Oh, God, he was going to kiss her, she realized. Did Tancred like her?

But just before his lips could touch hers, an annoying, pissed-off voice broke the moment, causing Tancred and Emma to take a step away from each other in shock.

"Tancred, this was supposed to be OUR date. Why are you with her?" Jamie hissed, glaring at Emma. Of course, Emma gets the boy that Jamie wants.

"I would never go on a date with you." Tancred told her sternly, grabbing Emma's hand, again without thinking. He blushed deeply, but went on with what he was saying looking directly at Emma. "She's the only one I'd ever go out with." He smiled as Emma's shocked face turned redder than a tomato. She was so adorable.

An enraged wind swept through the restaurant, ruining people's dinners, and causing a lot of shocked people to glare over at them. Tancred pulled closer to Emma.

"No! Tancred, you heard those things she said about you." She screamed.

"No, I was forced to believe what you made Cameron make me believe." He smiled. He'd won the battle, he could tell by her defeated face. He took out his wallet and set a five-dollar bill on the table, for Emma's drink and for a tip for what had happened and pulled Emma out with as much dignity as one could have.

"That was amazing Tancred! You just stood up to a storm monger." Emma congratulated him.

"That's because I am a storm monger." Just as he said this, a triumphant wind blew around him. Both looked around, shocked.

"Tancred," Emma realized what was happening. "You earned your endowment back."

"How?" He asked, just as someone stepped out of a sleek black car that had been sitting on the curb. It was an old, but strong looking man. He had a power over the two of them, Emma could tell.

"It takes guts to stand up to your own endowment." The man told him. "I'm Julius Johnston, head of the Endowed. You, Tancred Torsson, are one of the most interesting endowed children I've ever seen. You have a very strong talent in you, and as you know it's difficult to stand up to it. But you did, and not for yourself, but for someone else. Emma Tolly, I give you back yours as well. I've seen what I've done to you, and you didn't deserve it."

As he spoke, Emma could feel almost a magic coursing through her veins. She could feel her endowment returning. She smiled. "Thank you so much Mr. Johnston!" She was so happy, she hugged him. "But why'd you take it away in the first place?" She wondered, "I know that what you did had nothing to do with us hiding Olivia."

"At Bloor's, it's very diverse. I don't like the endowed using power against each other. I took away your endowments so you could learn how to get along, how to deal without them. You guys are an amazing example, especially you, Mr. Torsson."

Emma and Tancred smiled at each other.

"I have good trust in the two of you. Use those endowments well." Julius got back into the car, which drove off quickly.

The two hugged tightly. He wanted to kiss her, but that moment wouldn't be right. She hurried home to call Damien and break the news to him, but also to thank him, because he had played a big part in tonight.

Tancred actually didn't mind.

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**I'm putting in the thing with Charlie, Olivia and the Darvith sisters next chapter. I felt like this one had enough in it. Wasn't this just the best chapter though? :D. it's definitely my favorite so far. I hope you enjoyed it and I'm so sorry I didn't update as soon as I though and let this sit there for over a month. I've had school, but I have about another week of Christmas break (had the best christmas ever by the way) so if you guys review at a good pace in the next couple days, you might get an earlier update than you've been getting.**

**So review!!!!!!!!!!!  
please, cause I'm bored.  
press the magical review button!  
and this is chapter is your christmas present from me  
or present for whatever holiday you celebrate  
but whatever, just review  
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